Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cars.com from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Cars.com Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $10.25 on Wednesday. Cars.com has a 12 month low of $7.40 and a 12 month high of $13.97. The company has a market cap of $600.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.86.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). Cars.com had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cars.com will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cars.com

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cars.com by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Cars.com by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Cars.com by 436.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Cars.com during the 2nd quarter worth about $115,000. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.